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WASHINGTON — A senior Republican senator voiced confidence yesterday that U.S. lawmakers will
forge a deal to avoid the year-end “fiscal cliff,” while a top aide to President Barack Obama
signaled a willingness to compromise over raising tax rates on the rich.

Republican Sen. Bob Corker said increasing tax revenue from wealthier Americans will have to be
part of the plan, but he stressed closing loopholes rather than raising top tax rates, as many
Democrats favor, provided that spending is also tackled.

“I am optimistic,” Corker told
Fox News Sunday. “There is a way of getting there on the revenue side. The real question
is: Can we come to terms on the entitlement side?”

Obama has invited congressional leaders to the White House on Friday to discuss the issue, with
only 50 days left in this year. Unless Congress acts first, $600 billion in tax hikes and automatic
federal spending cuts would take effect at the end of December, with a potentially devastating
impact on the economy.

Top Obama aide David Axelrod, asked if it is possible to raise enough revenue to curb the
deficit without increasing the top tax rate, praised the “encouraging” remarks by Speaker of the
House John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, on the need to tackle the problem.

“Obviously, there is money to be gained by closing some of these loopholes and applying them to
deficit reduction,” Axelrod told CBS’
Face the Nation. “So I think there are a lot of ways to skin this cat, so long as
everybody comes with a positive, constructive attitude toward the task.”

Obama won re-election on Tuesday after a campaign in which he called for wealthier Americans to
pay a bit more in taxes. But a range of deductions, including on mortgage-interest payments and
charitable giving, can significantly lower the effective tax rate that most affluent U.S.
households pay.

Limiting some deductions while closing loopholes is the middle ground proposed in 2010 by a
commission created by the president and led by Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham urged Obama to sign on to its recommendations while pledging to do
the same.

“Say ‘yes’ to Simpson-Bowles, Mr. President. I’m willing to say ‘yes’ to Simpson-Bowles. We need
more revenue in Washington. We need more private-sector jobs. We don’t need to raise tax rates,” he
said on CBS’
Face the Nation.